Fatty acid profile in cord blood of neonates born to optimally controlled gestational diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the fatty acid profile of cord blood phospholipids (PL), cholesteryl esters (CE), triglycerides (TG) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in neonates born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared to non-diabetic mothers. METHODS: The offspring of 30 pregnant women (15 non-diabetic controls, 15 with diet- or insulin-controlled GDM) were recruited before delivery. Cord blood was collected. After lipid extraction, PL, CE, TG and NEFA were separated by thin layer chromatography and analysed by gas chromatography. RESULTS: In GDM vs. control mothers, maternal glycated haemoglobin (A1C, mean±SD) was not different between groups: 5.3±0.5% vs. 5.3±0.3% (p=0.757), respectively. Cord plasma fatty acids were not different in TG, CE and NEFA between GDM and non-diabetic mothers. However, in PL, levels of palmitate, palmitoleate, oleate, vaccinate and di-homo-gamma-linolenate were significantly lower, with a trend for lower arachidonate (p=0.078), in neonates born to GDM mothers compared to controls. CONCLUSION: In contrast to other studies on cord blood docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in GDM mothers, we did not found lower levels of DHA in cord PL, CE, TG or NEFA in neonates born to GDM compared to non-diabetic mothers

Genome wide analysis of gene dosage in 24,092 individuals estimates that 10,000 genes modulate cognitive ability

International audienceGenomic copy number variants (CNVs) are routinely identified and reported back to patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, but their quantitative effects on essential traits such as cognitive ability are poorly documented. We have recently shown that the effect size of deletions on cognitive ability can be statistically predicted using measures of intolerance to haploinsufficiency. However, the effect sizes of duplications remain unknown. It is also unknown if the effect of multigenic CNVs are driven by a few genes intolerant to haploinsufficiency or distributed across tolerant genes as well. Here, we identified all CNVs > 50 kilobases in 24,092 individuals from unselected and autism cohorts with assessments of general intelligence. Statistical models used measures of intolerance to haploinsufficiency of genes included in CNVs to predict their effect size on intelligence. Intolerant genes decrease general intelligence by 0.8 and 2.6 points of intelligence quotient when duplicated or deleted, respectively. Effect sizes showed no heterogeneity across cohorts. Validation analyses demonstrated that models could predict CNV effect sizes with 78% accuracy. Data on the inheritance of 27,766 CNVs showed that deletions and duplications with the same effect size on intelligence occur de novo at the same frequency. We estimated that around 10,000 intolerant and tolerant genes negatively affect intelligence when deleted, and less than 2% have large effect sizes. Genes encompassed in CNVs were not enriched in any GOterms but gene regulation and brain expression were GOterms overrepresented in the intolerant subgroup. Such pervasive effects on cognition may be related to emergent properties of the genome not restricted to a limited number of biological pathways

Polar Chirality in BiFeO 3 Emerging from A Peculiar Domain Wall Sequence

International audienceTopological states are currently gathering intensive investigation in condensed matter physics due to their potential as configurable electronic devices for the future era coined "topotronics". Beyond numerous breakthroughs in magnetism over the last decade, a new paradigm is emerging with the proposal of topologically-protected objects in ferroelectric materials. Recently, ferroelectric skyrmions and vortices were observed in PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices, opening the path towards ultra-small topological objects with low-power electric-field control. Here we report the observation of chiral polar windings in a single epitaxial thin film, triggered by its self-organized stripe domain pattern arrangement. Combining resonant elastic X-ray scattering and scanning transmission electron microscopy, we show signatures of polar chirality in epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films corroborated with a complex ferroelectric domain wall structure. The net chirality suggests that domain walls induce a polar rotation through a small path alternating with an unexpected long path at every second domain wall. In addition, scanning probe microscopy reveals singularities associated to this peculiar domain wall structure. These results bring new insights into the unexpected complexity of standard striped-domain BiFeO3 thin films and open questions as for the driving force of this polar chirality

Maternal high-fat diet induces follicular atresia but does not affect fertility in adult rabbit offspring

International audienceAlterations to the metabolic environment in utero can have an impact on subsequent female reproductive performance. Here, we used a model of rabbits receiving a high-fat diet (H diet; 7.7% fat and 0.2% cholesterol) or a control diet (C diet; 1.8% fat, no cholesterol) from 10 weeks of age up to mating at 27 weeks and throughout gestation and lactation. At weaning at 5 weeks of age, F1 female offspring were placed on either C or H diet, resulting in a total of four groups C/C, C/H, H/C and H/H diet. Female offspring were mated between 18 and 22 weeks of age and euthanized at 28 days of gestation. A few days before mating and/or just before euthanasia, F1 female rabbits were fasted overnight, weighed, and blood sampled for steroids and biochemistry. Organs were weighed at euthanasia and the ovaries were collected. C/H and H/H F1 offspring had higher cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein plasma concentrations, together with a higher fat mass compared with C/C does, reflecting the effect of the postnatal diet; however, no effect of the antenatal diet was observed on most parameters. The number of primordial, primary and secondary follicles were not different between the groups, but a significantly higher number of atretic follicles was observed in the C/H ( P <0.001) and in the H/C ( P <0.001) compared with control C/C ovaries, demonstrating both an effect of prenatal and postnatal maternal nutrition. These data indicated that both maternal and postnatal high-fat diet may induce follicular apoptosis; however, in this model, the reproduction was not affected

Hormonal response (LH response, estradiol and progesterone) after mating.

<p>(A) Mean ±SEM serum LH concentrations (ng/mL) according to time after mating and response to mating: C animals that all responded (N = 7). HH animals that had a LH response (N = 5). – HH animal that had a delayed response (N = 1). – HH animals that did not respond (N = 2). (B) Mean ±SEM serum estradiol concentrations (pg/mL) in HH and C does at 0, 3, 6, 13, 20 and 27 days of gestation (term: 31 days). (C) Mean ±SEM serum progesterone concentration (ng/mL) in HH and C does at 0, 3, 6, 13, 20 and 27 days of gestation (term: 31 days).</p

Mean (±SEM) serum leptin, estradiol and progesterone concentrations according to age in HH and Control does.

<p>Each box plot represents the distribution of values in each group at 13, 18, 22 and 27 weeks of age for leptin and estradiol (A and B) and at 13, 18 and 22 weeks of age for progesterone (C). Median values are indicated by the red line within the box. The upper point (in purple) and the lower point (in blue) represent the first and the third quartile respectively. The highest and the lowest values are representing by circle and square respectively. *indicates <i>P</i><0.05.</p

Mean number follicles according to size (low magnification).

<p>Follicles are classified into 5 categories. The counting was realized using one ovary per rabbit and per group (low magnification).</p